Menu

NFL Should Be Ashamed of Themselves in Wake of Ray Rice Decision

Over the weekend, Baltimore Ravens Runningback Ray Rice was suspended 2 games of the regular season due to an arrest made in a domestic violence dispute with his wife. Rice hit his wife so violently that she was left unconscious after the punch.

In an Atlantic City hotel elevator, Rice made a potentially career-threatening move, but ultimately paid a small price in terms of punishment. He is not in jail, he is not suspended for any significant amount of time; so what message does this send to the younger generation of football fans?

To me, the NFL basically said to the public that they do not condone drug use — to which I completely understand— but they can understand a dispute involving violence with women. If any man puts his hand on a woman, he is showing his true colors, and whether or not his fans want to hear it, he has shown, at least to this point, that his is not a man at all.

Josh Gordon is a talented wideout for the Cleveland Browns, a rival team to the Ravens, was suspended earlier this year for a failed drug test, (granted he has failed multiple tests) but not once was a full season brought up for Rice. In my eyes, if a guy wants to smoke a joint and relax after enduring on the grind of a professional football player, he’s more than welcomed. Give him 2. Give him 6. I honestly don’t care, but when you begin to involve violence of any kind, ESPECIALLY to women, I have no tolerance.

I was wondering when the incident first happened if Rice would even have a job after this, and once the dust settled, I’m sitting here wondering how the NFL was so lenient towards him and his case. Plaxico Burress needed to be reinstated into the league and sentenced to 2 years in jail for shooting HIMSELF with a handgun in a night club in 2009, but somehow that made the NFL clamp down hard on the wideout who was arguably in his prime at the time, but not this time.

Rice was one of my favorite players prior to this incident, and he still is, but with the way that everything has played out, it makes me shake my head as hard as I can at both parties, the NFL and Rice, due to how poorly this was handled. I hope Rice can get a second chance and prove he is truly sorry for his actions, but until then, I have no reason to think of him in a higher regard anymore, at least not yet.